MONTREAL – A dominant ground game and more of the workmanlike effort he’s become known for helped Darren Elkins cruise on Saturday night

Elkins spent the majority of the fight taking Steven Siler down, then alternately beating him up on the canvas or working for submissions on his way to a 30-27 sweep of the judges’ scorecards.

The featherweight kicked off Saturday’s UFC 154 event at Montreal’s Bell Centre. It streamed on Facebook ahead of additional prelims on FX and the pay-per-view main card.

The 145-pounders threw leather early with Elkins getting inside to land a 1-2 to back Siler up. Elkins looked to land early with his hands against the taller Siler, then defended a knee to get double underhooks and push Siler to the fence. About 90 seconds into the round, Elkins bullied Siler to the ground and quickly got to side control, though Siler defended well and got back to full guard – an early theme of the fight.

Elkins, though, postured up and landed a two-punch combination from his feet, then cradled Siler before looking for a side choke. Elkins slid out, constantly trying to pass Siler’s guard. Siler continually was able to work his way back from bad positions into guard, and when Siler popped up, Elkins quickly took him back down. Elkins eventually took his neck, pulled guard and cranked on a modified guillotine choke. But Siler defended and worked out to survive the round.

An early leg kick from Siler in the second led to an easy Elkins takedown just 20 seconds in, and the Indiana native went to work on Siler’s neck again. When Siler tried to push off, Elkins would go back to pounding. When Elkins postured up, Siler landed a heavy up kick. But Elkins walked through it, and back on the ground took Siler’s back, locked in a body triangle and worked on a rear-naked choke. Siler survived once, but Elkins retained the dominant position and went back to work on the fence, looking for the choke with Siler locked in the body triangle. Elkins bloodied Siler up with punches while continuing to look for the choke. Again, Elkins went for a finish, but Siler kept a hand in to defend. Siler did his best to look for some reverse elbows from the bad spot and landed a few. But Elkins dominated the round, though he wasn’t able to get the finish.

Siler had to go into desperation mode, down two rounds, in the third. But Elkins landed a right early, then a left jab. Siler looked to land with a knee, but Elkins again got a takedown, his fourth of the fight. He would finish with six. Siler got a hold of Elkins’ neck and looked to crank late, but far too late to matter.

Elkins (15-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) won for the fourth straight time since dropping from lightweight to featherweight and seventh time in his past eight outings. Siler (21-10 MMA, 3-1 UFC) lost for the first time in nearly two years and first time in the UFC. The TUF 14 cast member had been perfect in the UFC.

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